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Sola Shittu
The Senate Leadership was on Thursday thrown into confusion over the amendment of the Electoral Act which was supposed to be passed for second reading by the Senate, even as it confirms the appointment of Professor Josh Amupitan as the Chairman of Independent Electoral Commission, INEC.
Amupitan’s confirmation is coming on the heels of his screening by the Senate after a letter from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announcing his nomination to the Senate.
The Senate President , Godswill Akpabio thanked the senators for the painstaking manner in which they handle the screening of Amupitan as committee of the whole.
He said their questions and comportment met the aspirations of all Nigerians.
“I wish professor Amputian well and pray that his services will improve the electoral process, lead to more transparency and ensure that every vote counts and that the winners are truly the ones that are announced.
“I also want to congratulate the people and staff of INEC for having a man that is most likely going to bring about changes in order to improve our electoral process.
All hands must be on deck for Nigeria to have a better image in all electoral processes.
“We all have our roles to play and many of us have been victims of electoral malpractices in the past that is why we were able to ask the right questions. And we hope that he has a lot of takeaways to assist him in the work that he will do and one of the things that bother us and he tends to also agree with us is the issue of the local government elections this winner carries it all syndrome.
Meanwhile, the Senate was summarily thrown into disarray yesterday over the amendment of the Electoral Act.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Simon Lalong was handling the lead debate when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio came to take over from the Senate Deputy President Jibrin Barau and suggested a closed door session because according to him, the Committee chairman, Senator Simon Lalong has not touched the nitty-gritty of the reasons why the amendment should pass second reading.
“I want to know whether there are certain things that will convince us here of the need to make it (the report) to pass second reading. So in my opinion, Senator Lalong, you have not touched the nitty-gritty of the reason why you want us to pass this for second reading. Yes, you are supposed to talk about general principles and that will be okay.
“But what have you been able to tell us? I’m thinking that for us to proceed with this, we will not stop it immediately, but I think we should go into closed session. So that you can let us know the areas that you have been able to point out. Let’s not be taken by surprise when we go for a public hearing. Let it be that the members are aware of the areas that you wish to amend. But if you want to argue with me, go ahead,” he said.
However, instead of going into a closed door meeting, the chamber’s microphone was switched off and the Senate leadership, led by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, the Leader of the House, approached the chair to meet with the Senate President.
At the end of the meeting which lasted between five to ten minutes, Senator Bamidele addressed the chamber and suggested that the day is not auspicious for executive session.
“I would like to most respectfully say that I believe the time today is not auspicious for us to go into executive session to discuss this bill. Also because it is my conviction that there is a need for further consultation on this bill before we can actually proceed,” he said.
According to him, there is also the need to ensure that distinguished colleagues understand the general principles of the bill, which are the things we are supposed to thoroughly debate at the second reading.
In view of this, Bamidele moved the motion for further consideration of the bill be stepped down until another legislative day for further consultation.
The motion was supported by the Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro
